HackSign: Virus Hacker
by Kensukete
Summary: Tsukasa is not the only one with problems. A young boy named Kensuke get's to play for free, but only at a certain cost.
1. Chapter 1: The World

.Hack//Sign: Virus Hacker  
  
Chapter 1: The World  
  
"The World" is an online game called an MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game). In "The World", a player can design a character with specific jobs and specific features. The character jobs help determine what kind of equipment the character can or can't use. The features help determine what the character looks like, the player can only choose the features the game will allow.  
  
There are only seven jobs in "The World" that a player can choose from. These jobs are Twin Blade, Heavy Blade, Blademaster, Heavy Axe, Long Arm, and Wavemaster.  
  
After assigning your player a job you may then edit your character design with what the game provides. WARNING! IF YOUR CHARACTER IS EDITED WITHOUTH THE PROPER DESIGNS, YOUR CHARACTER WILL BE DELETED!  
  
In "The World" you play as your character. You fight monsters in Keyword Generated Fields. Defeating monsters will result in experience points; there is also a chance that treasure chests may appear. The keyword system is where.  
  
"I'll take it!" These were the words of a 15-year-old boy named Kensuke Unikawa. He had been reading the box of the game known as "The World". Kensuke had dark brown hair, short on the sides and short in the back, he had blue eyes, his eyebrows were thick, he weighed 132 lbs. And had the height of 5'11.  
  
"The World" is the first online game that he will have ever played, and unknowingly to him, his last. Kensuke was at his local game shop in an area that he liked to call "Little Tokyo", although he happened to live in the United States the city he lived in was very oriental, so he decided to give it a new name, since then, everyone else has been calling the city "Little Tokyo" only because no one remembers what the original name was. He just wanted to browse around when "The World" caught his eye - also the special price of $10 instead of the usual $50 caught his other eye. Kensuke walked up to the young, nerdy-looking cashier.  
  
"I'd like to buy this please." He lay the $10 - that he just happened to have in his pocket - on the counter. The teenage nerd laughed. "What's so funny?"  
  
"That sign over there says $10 of the normal $50 price." The boy snickered.  
  
"Oh, I see." Kensuke looked down at the floor in disappointment - he noticed that in most of the movies that he watched that you end up getting whatever you want because the others will feel sorry for you, in this case, it did work. The cashier leaned close to Kensuke's ear.  
  
"But lemme' tell ya sumthin' kid. There's a secret sale going on right now, if you subscribe to our newsletter you get to have the game for free." Kensuke opened his eyes wider while still looking at the floor. "Rumor has it that after you subscribe and we send the notice to our supply store, some executive from the CC Administration may read the notice and let you play the game for free. But, as I said, that's just a rumor." Kensuke was filled with excitement once again.  
  
"Give me the form for the newsletter." Kensuke demanded. The cashier jumped over the counter and grabbed Kensuke by the shirt and brought him over to a computer terminal.  
  
"Actually, it's online." A screen flickered and a few questions appeared. Kensuke finished all twelve questions within 43 seconds. All screens minimized and another popped up reading "Subscription has been sent." Then the pop-up minimized as Kensuke was pulled away from the terminal and placed in front of the counter again. The cashier thrust the game box into his hand.  
  
"Enjoy!" The boy had an unusual smile as he said his paring words. Kensuke stared into the darkness which boy entered - as if he were floating backwards like in some scary movies. After a few seconds he ran passed the door and rushed home.  
  
***  
Meanwhile, in the game store, another pop-up appeared on the computer screen. "Purchase notice of "The World" has been received by the CC Administration, model number and identification of purchase confirmed, positive confirmation of subscription of newsletter, free playability now available.  
  
*** Kensuke burst through the door to his room and speedily inserted the CD into the CD drive. The screen on his monitor switched from the ALTIMIT screen to "The World" screen.  
  
"Hmm, username? How about WeirdGuy?"  
  
"Username accepted."  
  
"Good. Character name? Blink."  
  
"Character name accepted."  
  
"Now what?" he asked himself.  
  
"Please choose your character classification." Kensuke had to think long and hard about this. Are you sure you want this character?" Kensuke pressed enter. "Please select your character design." Kensuke's eyes opened wide as he saw the huge selection of character designs.  
  
"God, there's so many, yet none that I like!" He scrolled the screen all the way down until he came to a question mark. "Random huh? Hmm. Let's see what it says in the manual about this." He emptied the box on to his computer desk. A little thin booklet fell out. He skimmed through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Okay, so random will pick one of these designs and pick different colors that fit the design. That'll suit me just fine."  
  
"Registration complete." The screen went back to the ALTIMIT screen.  
  
"Weird." All of a sudden a window popped up reading "New Mail". Of course he had to click it. There were only two entries. One was about registering with the CC Corporation. The other was titled "FREE!" He clicked the "FREE!" entry.  
  
It read:  
We, the CC Administration, welcome you to "The World". We have been notified that you have subscribed to the gaming newsletter. IN case you did not know, the CC Corporation manages the newsletter. Unfortunately, you are the subscriber. Fortunately, since you are the first, you will play the game for free for an unlimited amount of time. To keep this privilege, you cannot tell anyone about this, or you will be terminated. We will be watching you.  
  
After he closed the message, it self-deleted.  
  
"That's pretty odd. Oh well." He clicked out of the mail window and clicked "The World" icon.  
  
He was now on "The World" menu screen. He now had three choices: login, message board, and exit.  
  
"Its only best to do the most logical thing." He said aloud as he clicked login. 


	2. Chapter 2: Want to join me?

.Hack//Sign: Virus Hacker  
  
Chapter 2: Want to join me?  
  
Kensuke felt a rush of excitement as he logged into "The World". Within a few seconds he appeared in Mac Anu, the city of water. He smiled as he looked around the city.  
  
"Wow," he mouthed. He then looked down at his clothes. "UGH," he muttered to himself. His description is this: he had long red hair, purple cloth leg wear, and a green vest, he also had brown leather shoes, and gray socks to go with the shoes. On his back he wore a sword that was strapped to his torso. His face had two small pink stripes on each side. "Just great, I wind up getting the crappiest design there is. Oh well, better start learni.Whoa!" A cluster of heavy axemen came barreling past him, obviously returning from a field.  
  
"Man, that was some battle," one said.  
  
"I agree, hardest I've ever done," said another who happened to be slightly larger than the first.  
  
"Don't forget," said the tiny one, "I'm the one who saved both of your hides! All you guys ever did was sit back and cry as you healed yourself whenever you got hit! And I'm three levels lower than you are! Why don't you guys ever grow up and take chances?" The tiny one sounded more than just a little aggravated.  
  
"We could say the same to you," both large men said simultaneously. This remarked caused the little one to burst into even more of a rage. He started stomping his feet moving side to side, face turning red, then. he grew an inch.  
  
"Looks like you took our advice," the largest one chuckled out. The tiny one finally decided to calm down.  
  
"Thc. hehheh, alright, let's go." The three players left towards the shops in the city. Kensuke started off in their direction as they ran. "What a buncha' weirdo's." Kensuke spoke as quiet as he could that way no one could have heard what he just said. He walked away from the chaos gate and deeper into the city. He looked around in amazement. He stopped as he noticed a man all alone standing on the bridge.  
  
The man had face paint of blue all over his face except his lips. He had a yellow leather cloth-looking piece for the legs. He leaned on a sword and stared out into the water. Kensuke walked up to him. The man turned to notice Kensuke approaching the man - at least in a friendly looking way, the man thought.  
  
"Why, hello there," the man greeted.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"You must be a beginner."  
  
"How'd you guess?" The man smiled.  
  
"I noticed you looking around as you first entered the city." He paused to stand up straight so he wouldn't lean on his sword while talking - it's the appropriate way to do things, he also thought. "My name is Bear, who might you be?" He extended a hand for Kensuke to take. He took it.  
  
"My name is Ken.err.Blink." Bear gave him a confused look. "Yeah, it's Blink. Pleased to meet you." Bear smiled, then he had turned back towards the water. "So, what are you doing here all alone?"  
  
"I'm waiting for someone."  
  
"Oh." Bear let out a sigh. He then turned back to Kensuke.  
  
"I doubt she'll be here anytime soon. Hey, would you like to go on a dungeon adventure with me?" Kensuke stepped back with surprise.  
  
"Uh, sure. Wait, what level are you?"  
  
"A higher one than you, I guess I'll have to teach you the basics. Follow me." They both walked over to the Chaos Gate. "Give me your member address." Kensuke did as he was told. "Okay, there, you're in my party now. Let's go to Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field. They teleported out of Mac Anu.  
  
Meanwhile, a girl with brown hair while holding a sword ran all over Mac Anu.  
  
"Where is he? Bear, where are you?" 


	3. Chapter 3: First Adventure

.Hack//Sign: Virus Hacker  
  
Chapter 3: First Adventure  
  
Kensuke regained sight as he teleported to the field. The field was very green with a bright sun light.  
  
"This my friend is a field. Fields contain portals. Within these portals are either monsters or treasure chests. Portals are in both fields and dungeons. Let's go and find a portal. hey!" Kensuke had already run off. Bear immediately followed. It took ten seconds for Kensuke to find his first portal. Monsters appeared and the portal disappeared. The monsters were three gray goblins. Kensuke took out his sword and began to smash it against the goblins bodies. Bear was surprised, he didn't think a beginner would know anything, but this kid obviously did.  
  
Soon, Kensuke finished off all the goblins. He still appeared to be at level one. "I thought you said you were a beginner?" Kensuke smiled in response.  
  
"I had practice with my friend's character. But, this is my character, so technically, I am a beginner."  
  
"May I ask who your friend might be", Bear asked.  
  
"Honestly, I couldn't tell you because I don't remember his character name. But, I think we'll meet each other again soon. I sure hope we do.  
  
"Then why don't you call out your friend's real name in the Message Board?" Kensuke sighed.  
  
"He doesn't check the boards. But, he will only check if he hears about an event from other players."  
  
"Oh, I see." There was a long pause between the both of them. "Well, should we get back to playing the game?" Excitement came back into Kensuke's head as if it had never left, as if the excitement had only paused because of an overload in the mind. "All right, let's go." For a few more minutes, they found three treasure chests and two monster portals, each holding only one monster. After all portals cleared - with huge golden bold letters appearing over their heads reading "ALL FIELD PORTALS OPENED" - they made their way to the dungeon.  
  
The dungeon was dark and stony. There were a few torches, but they couldn't be seen. Kensuke half expected for the entrance to the dungeon to close on them. it didn't. They both walked down the floor, walking in the next room only to run into a portal. Three goblins jumped out and ran to the duo in an attacking formation.  
  
"I'll handle these," Bear yelled as he ran up and swung his sword at all three goblins in one turn. After all the goblins were destroyed, Bear stood in the stance of his last attack - face to the floor, sword in one hand in an angle, other hand in the air open as if ready to grab hold of something near - and remained that way for a small duration of time. When he began to move he turned to face Kensuke. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but I must leave. I just received an urgent message and have to do something about it. I'll send you my member address." With saying that, Bear used a sprite ocarina to teleport out of the dungeon. Kensuke stood in the darkness and kept silent for a moment.  
  
"Oh well, I guess all the experience and treasure is mine then." He hurried through the dungeon. So far, the only portal to appear was the one in the beginning. He found a few chests but all they contained were antidotes. Eventually he found his way to the Gott Statue. In it was book, it had no title, all it had was a ? No explanation for the book had been seen either. He decided that it was time for him to leave. He was about to use a Sprite Ocarina but he realized he didn't have one, so he began his ascent to the top.  
  
Once he reached the second floor, trouble began. A man with green hair and swords attached to his arms approached Kensuke.  
  
"Simply amazing, a blademaster who made it here all the way and found the rare item. Simply amazing," the twin blade said. "Tell me, what item did you get?" Kensuke kept silent. "I know you have the item, I saw you receive it. But, I'm very curious," he moved closer, "what did you get?"  
  
"I.I don't know," Kensuke stammered.  
  
"Well, if you don't know, then why not give it to me, hmm?" The player put on a hideous smile.  
"I'd rather not." Kensuke backed up a few steps.  
  
"Then how about I make a deal with you," the player moved closer, "we fight for that item."  
  
"I don't want to fight," Kensuke shouted.  
  
"You have no choice." The player held up his blades. Kensuke drew out his. For a moment they just stared at each other. "Wait a second." They stood still even longer. "There, that's better!" The player started to dance. "I always wanted to fight with some background music!" The player started to twirl. When he ceased the twirling, Kensuke was nowhere in sight. He looked this way and that and still couldn't find him.  
  
"You know, that is your downfall," whispered Kensuke into the man's ear. The player turned around. Kensuke held his sword to the player's neck. "You know, I can kill you right now, just by stabbing you anywhere."  
  
"You're pretty clever, I never thought I'd be outsmarted by anyone. Bravo! Nice show!"  
  
"Cut the act!" The man shut up. "As I said before, I can kill you right now." Kensuke stared into the player's eyes.  
  
"But you won't will you?" Kensuke stared harder, and then he let the sword move away from the player's neck.  
  
"I told you, I didn't want to fight."  
  
"Hmm. what's your name?" Kensuke looked to the floor.  
  
"It's Blink. You?"  
  
"Sora," the man replied. "You seem like you'd be a powerful ally, can I have your member address?" They exchanged member addresses. "Thanks. Oh, I almost forgot." Kensuke looked back at Sora confused. "I still want that item."  
  
"What?" Sora stabbed him in the chest.  
  
"Your weakness that you're nice is YOUR downfall!" Sora laughed hysterically like a hyena as Kensuke's dead body fell to the floor. Kensuke's body left no color; it turned to a dark shade of gray within seconds.  
  
"I better get that item before the body de-materializes." As Sora searched the body he found nothing. After a few minutes of searching he screamed in anger. "That's impossible, I saw him grab the item!" The body soon de-materialized which caused Sora to scream again. 


	4. Chapter 4: A New Start

.HackSign: Virus Hacker

Chapter 4: Another Start

Kensuke screamed in anger as he was exited from the game. This is what he gets from trusting a lowlife like that twin blade. It's something noobs should expect. Yet, he was careless. Kensuke grabbed his manual to find some information about player killers. He flipped through many pages before he found what he had been looking for.

On page 14 of "The World tm" manual it is stated: _Player killers are also not tolerated in "The World tm". Anyone who is considered a player killer will then be considered an outlaw and will have a bounty on his head. Information would be greatly appreciated about player killers; if information is found please contact the system administrator."_

"Well, that's it huh?" He couldn't believe that that was all the information the manual had. "I can't believe that that's all the information this manual has!" He sat in thought for a moment. "I got an idea", he finally said.

Kensuke logged back into the game and went straight into the message boards. "No time to check for anything new, I've got to do something else." He created a new topic on the board – Player Killers. He then posted a new thread for his topic and started hammering away at his keys. It was non-stop gibberish – really, at first it was – so he finally decided that he needed to erase everything then calm down to sort things out. Once he reached the point of tranquility he began to type away – carefully this time.

_Does anyone know any player killers? I don't mean as in specifically knowing them, but has anyone ever been killed by a player killer? I was just killed by one and it sucks because I lost all my points I just gained. He was a twin blade with dark green hair and had a spunky attitude. Anyone ever met this guy? Or someone like him that gave you the same fate this guy gave me?_

That's all he put down. There was nothing more that could be said. After staring at the screen for a few minutes Kensuke figured it was time to log out. It was getting late and he hadn't even done his homework yet. There would be another chance of play tomorrow after school.

Kensuke awoke at 7:25 a.m. to get ready for school. He's never woken up this late, he usually rises at a quarter past six; he stayed up way too late doing his homework – curse those blasted teachers.

He rushed his shower and hurried to put his clothes on. He barely made his bus as he ran out of his house to catch it. The bus driver nagged at him when he climbed on to the bus, telling him to stay on time from now on; he nodded and walked on to his seat.

"Hey, K! What's up," someone yelled to him. Kensuke smiled back at his friend Leroy. He then found out his seat was taken by someone who didn't sit anywhere near him before. Kensuke looked back to Leroy.

"Mind if I sit next to ya L?" Leroy shook his head. "Thanks." He sat next to his old friend. "Hey, guess what I got yesterday?"

"What?"

"The World tm." Leroy looked at him astonished.

"You actually got it? How? I thought you didn't have the money?" Kensuke snickered.

"Well..." he took a moment to remember what the e-mail told him, "...my parents chipped in." Leroy gave him a funny look.

"I thought your parents never helped you buy games, that they never approved of such 'abominations of technology'?"

"Right, uh, did I say parents? I meant to say my grandparents. They usually help out when my parents don't." Kensuke stuck his thumb up and smiled falsely. "But yeah, it's cool, but what sucks is that some player-killer got me last night."

"Ouch," Leroy said. "Aren't they illegal?"

"Yeah, but they still roam around the place. They get deleted but they always seem to manage to bypass the system. Just one of these days though, if I cross paths with that...person, he's going to regret messing with me."

"But you're just a noob, he's probably way stronger than you are now."

"Of course, I already took that into account, but, since I know that you play the game, I say that maybe you and I can gang up on him sometime."

"Hmm," Leroy took a moment to think, "I haven't played in a while; and since school is almost over I guess I could start again." They gave each other high fives. "But I'll need to teach you some basics and..."

"I already know the basics," Kensuke interrupted, "some old guy was teaching me how to play. All I want to learn from you is the advanced stuff." Leroy shook his head.

"Not until this weekend though, I have lots of homework to catch up on."

"Deal."

The two friends were silent the rest of the way to school. They were still silent when the bus pulled to a stop in the bus circle to let the students off. Once outside they said their goodbyes and split to opposite directions. These two kids have been friends ever since the third grade, both moved to the states around the same time. Leroy is from the Philippines, Kensuke from Japan. The bullies usually singled them out because they were foreign, but fortunately they were well with teaming up and defending themselves. Ever since then they have been real close friends.

Kensuke found himself dozing in and out of his classes, dreaming about his attacker in the game. He was very grateful to know that his teachers had to be called to a meeting. All the substitutes ordered was that the students either take out a book and read or to fall asleep until class was over since a lesson plan hadn't been left.

He has four classes a day and a lunch period between the second and third class. During lunch he was wide awake – for a certain reason of course, nothing related to the game. Kensuke had a crush on a girl, a popular girl, but one who didn't have many friends only because she wanted true friends, not people who just came out of nowhere and asked to be a friend. This girl's name was Catherine. She was a very pretty girl with long dark hair and tan skin. She was very athletic and ran for her school's track team. But what struck other people odd was that she had a fascination for games. Why would a pretty, popular, athletic girl like video games? No one knows to the answer except for herself. Occasionally she tries to blend in with the game fanatics, but usually ends up leaving because of the guys drooling over her.

Kensuke often finds himself walking up to her and tries to start a conversation with her, but he can never let any words escape from his mouth. Instead, they just crawl back in and force him to walk away. What gets him is the way she looks at him when he walks up to her. It's a kind of curious look, like, I wonder who he is, and I wonder what he's up to, I wonder if he has a girlfriend, look.

Kensuke stood up from his lunch table and started his "routine" walk to her. She looked up from afar to see he was coming, no facial expression whatsoever though, not this time. Once he reached her he stood there, both stared into each other's eyes.

"So are you going to say something this time or am I going to have to drag your tongue out to get an answer?" He gulped. This was the first time she ever spoke to him, a major breakthrough. He looked to the floor.

"Uh, hi," he spoke softly.

"Well, that's a start. Now, why don't you tell me your name...and quit staring at the floor, its quite unnerving when people do that!"

"My name...my name is... it's Kensuke. My name is Kensuke." He slowly raised his head to stare at her eyes again.

"Kensuke, Kensuke, hmm, where have I heard that name before?" Before he could give her an answer she spoke again. "Eh forget it, I'll remember it later. So, now that you're actually talking to me, would you mind telling me why you keep walking up and then walking away?"

"Uh, uh," he tried to speak but she interrupted him again.

"C'mon! I don't have all day!" She was getting aggravated.

"I...I just wanted...wanted to...to...to say that I have a crush on you." She laughed; Kensuke didn't expect that.

"You and a million others, what's so special about you?" This question Kensuke smiled at.

"I heard you're a game fanatic." That caused silence around them; many of the surrounding students stopped their chitchat to listen to the two. "A major one at that."

"A lot of people heard that." That's it. She knew how to end a conversation. Kensuke left her hanging for many seconds; he didn't have a response for her remark. He began to fidget. Catherine looked around at all the listeners. "Maybe we should take a walk then?" He nodded his head in agreement. She walked away from the crowd, Kensuke followed.

"So..." she started to say.

"What games do you like to play," he asked her. She giggled at the question.

"Plenty. I like role-playing games, strategy, racing, MMO's, puzzle, action, adventure, just about anything really." Now they were making progress.

"You like to play MMO's?"

"Of course!" She raised her voice a little but added extra excitement to it. "One I'm dying to play is The World tm. I heard it's so fun, and really addictive!"

"Heh, it is." Catherine held an arm up to stop his movement and faced him.

"You play it? YOU PLAY IT??"

"Jeez, you really are a fanatic aren't you?" She started shaking him violently.

"Yes, yes, YES!" She suddenly realized he was getting ready to pass out and stopped. "Sorry."

"It's alright," he replied. They once again stared into each other's eyes. She broke the silence yet again.

"You know Kensuke, I think I may like you. At least you don't drool like the other geeks!"

He laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You better, it is coming from me you know, and I have to keep a reputation around here." She paused for a moment. "I plan on getting the game today after school. Would you mind playing with me? You know, teach me all the basic requirements?" He shook his head up and down.

"Yes, I'd love to." They walked back to the lunch tables. They almost held hands but decided not to because of what the people would think – of course, Kensuke wouldn't have minded though.

"Remember this, boy," staring hard into his face, "just because we're going to play together doesn't mean we're going out, understand?" Kensuke shook his head. "Good".

He slept through his entire fourth class despite the excitement coursing through his body. More dreams of the attacker, but now they were longer, complete. The dream ended with the attacker stating his name. What was it? The name..._Sora. Sora. Sora._ "Sora!" Chairs screeched and heads turned his way. He looked up to see everyone in the room – even the class hamster – staring at him.

"Do you have something to say Mr. Unikawa?"

"No, sorry. Bad dream." He put his head back down and tried to dream of Catherine.

School finally ended. With all the commotion that went on in his life today, school seemed to drag on. As fast as time goes by, it moved slowly. At least now he had something to look forward to. On the way to his bus he met Catherine outside and gave her his name for the game and left.

Wide eyes stared at Kensuke as he walked onto the bus. All students had their mouths gaping open, some had them open so wide that it looked like their faces were rubber.

"What," he asked as them all with an all too obvious tone to his voice, grinning.

One kid finally opened his mouth, "Are you dating Catherine now?" Kensuke's grin grew larger, but he wiped it away and shook his head. "Then why did she walk and talk with you? She doesn't do that with just anyone!"

"I don't know. Maybe she thinks I'm not one of the losers that keep trying to get at her." The students all went "Ooh".

"Fair enough", another kid said. Leroy sat up straight to get Kensuke's attention and let him know that he should sit down.

"All right." Kensuke shoveled his way down towards the back of the bus to sit next to his friend.

"So," Leroy said grinning. Kensuke grinned back proudly.

He took a swing at a speedy goblin but missed.

"Nyah," the goblin taunted him pulling on the skin under its eye.

"I'll get you!" The man pulled out an item with stars painted on. A little stick poked out of the item from a small hole in the top. He pulled the stick and threw the item in the air. Sparkles and dust fell around him, causing him to glow. "Let's see how well this works," he said. He moved forward with great speed, catching the goblin off guard. He took another swing and destroyed it.

"Oh...you may have beaten me, but there are others," the goblin's voice screamed after its defeat.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" The man then gated out of the region.

Kensuke felt relieved when he jumped off of the bus' steps. Since the teachers were away no homework had been issued. He could finally play the game – and finally get a chance to be with Catherine, sort of.

He ran to his house as soon as he jumped off, pumping his legs faster and faster until he arrived home. He unlocked his front door with a key hidden underneath the doormat. His parents weren't home – if they were they would have greeted him. He kicked off his shoes towards a closet near the lower hallway; he then went upstairs and glided to his room. It appeared quiet at first; soon music began to filter the air and the surrounding area from the band See-Saw. The computer monitor flickered on as he flipped the switch. Standard Altimit loading screens popped up.

"God, I wish there was a better OS than this, it runs so slow and has so many problems – like Windows ME." (Mind you, if you don't know what that is, you're very fortunate.)

After Altimit had finished loading all the necessary programs, Kensuke then had to wait for his wallpaper to show up. It normally came up with all the other things, but lately it had loaded a little slower. He supposed the graphics that were used on the background had been too much considering it was like an active screensaver without the screen-saving part.

An orange screen with lots of sprites from old console games appeared and started fighting each other; it was a rather neat display when it originally came out, but recently the person who made it had been fined and is no longer able to make those screens.

"Whew! I thought it would give me more problems today." He looked up and smiled, then returned his eyes to the screen. "Now to log in." He positioned his mouse on "The Worldtm" icon and clicked.

_Please insert login name: _WeirdGuy

_Please enter password for verification: _**YOUWILLNEVERFINDOUT**

_Password and Username Verified...Welcome Blink._

The screen faded from black to blue, then green, then red, the colors then blended together to show a brand spanking new message board screen – Now with text!

"Let's check to see if anyone has written anything on my post." Kensuke kept clicking until he opened his menu. "Wow!" There were many replies to his Player Killer Topic. He opened the first reply.

_Reply Message from user:_ Refi

_Hi, I had the same experience from you. But a girl who looked like Subaru from the Crimson Knights killed me, but it wasn't her, just a look alike._

"Hmm...interesting." He opened the second reply.

_Reply Message from user: _Squeegee

_He killed you too? That guy killed me five times, I'm not sure how he finds me though, and he's a pain in the butt. Don't remember his name though, he seems to remember mine._

"Jeez, he sure gets around doesn't he?" Now the third one.

_Reply Message from user: _BT

_I know whom you're talking about. Twin blade with a bad attitude thinking he's the best right? He's Sora. He's killed me twice so far, but I did manage to put up a good fight before he hid and snuck up on me. If you want, I can give you his member address and you can find him._

"That was pretty good information. Thanks BT!" Kensuke logged out of the message boards – there were still plenty of replies left – and put on his head visor, then he logged into the game.

When he re-entered "The Worldtm", everything seemed new again. The vibrant colors of this amazing place had once again astonished him. The entire environment looked so real, it was hard to tell the difference between reality and the game.

"Ah, the wonders of technology", he exhaled. "It's such a beautiful site compared to the real world. I think I'll go over to the Chaos Gate and wait for her. She should be on within a half hour, so I might as well." He positioned his character near the Chaos Gate of Mac Anu and sat down, looking as if he were meditating. He closed his eyes and began thinking about Catherine, hoping to get the chance to play with her. What he didn't know was that in response to his thoughts the character within the game had thought bubbles above his head – such neat advances in technology today!

_I wonder what she'll choose for a character? Hmm, I do sure she picks a female character and not a guy, that'd be just plain creepy. Heh, I can't wait to see her here! Heck, I can't wait to see her tomorrow at school! This is going to be great!_

And so he kept thinking his thoughts, but little did he know, time flew by fast. Many hours had passed since he sat thinking of her. It is now nine o'clock and he still hasn't eaten his dinner; his thoughts were elsewhere. He didn't hear his mother calling for him, but she assumed that he had fallen asleep and figured it was best that she not check up on him.

More hours passed. He woke up standing tall as a lawn gnome would, just a little taller. There was still no sign of Catherine anywhere. It was nearing midnight. He sighed in disbelief...maybe she was letting him on? He glanced above his head and noticed a little envelope floating over his head.

"Mail? From who?" He began searching through it. He opened his eyes wide. "Bear! And Catherine!" He opened Bear's first.

_Hey Blink, I saw you sitting near the Chaos Gate thinking, not moving. Are you all right? I was thinking about going on a dungeon adventure with you, but I guess you're busy; I'll talk to you later then. – Bear._

"Oh, man, sorry Bear. Let's see Cathy's."

_Why are you just sitting there? - Cathy._

_Get up already! – Cathy_

_I'm not going to wait much longer! – Cathy_

_What are you doing? Get up! I'm here! – Cathy_

_Well, guess you're not there, thanks a lot! Here's my member address. My name is Berintsa. See ya...maybe. – Cathy_

"Argh! I can't believe this! This bites! So much for spending time with her! I'm such an idiot!" Kensuke fell back down onto the ground. "Hmph...now what? Its way past my bedtime, yet, I don't want to go to sleep yet." A man jumped out of the Chaos Gate and nearly ran into him. "Hey, watch where you're going you jerk!"

The man stopped his running and turned around swiftly and walked straight up to him. "You got a problem...squirt?" Kensuke stood back up.

"As a matter of fact, I do! You can't just run by someone, almost running them over, without saying sorry or excuse me!" A fist slammed into his face causing him to fall to the floor.

"Think twice kid!" Kensuke had been knocked out cold. "Meanwhile you're down and out for the moment, I'm going to check your items out." The man stood still for several moments. A flash of code appeared then disappeared. "Strange, you have an item...but I can't access it. What the heck is this?" The man who now seemed to be a hacker could not tell if this was a glitch in the system, or if Kensuke had been another hacker. "This isn't right. There doesn't seem to be any data on the item either. Its as if somehow his character data has...bonded with the item." As soon as he was about to look more into it, men wearing helmets and carrying large swords teleported in front of the gate.

"Crap, they found me." He stepped away from Kensuke and started to back away slowly from the body.

"User Seda! You are hereby under arrest by the Crimson Knights for the following crimes committed within 'The Worldtm': Hacking into other users' data and stealing items, money, and experience, hacking into forbidden areas within the game not allowed to public users, creating an illegal character with an illegal class. Please stand by for termination." One of the soldiers pushed his way through the squad to reveal himself, the Silver Knight. "Resisting will result in immediate expulsion from the game and ban for all of your life."

"Sorry, but I don't like being terminated, just not my style, y'know?" With saying that, Seda jumped from one side of the city walls to another until he was at least twenty feet away. "So, I'll just let you guys deal with him, you might find him very interesting. Catch ya later!" Within a matter of seconds he gated out – but not as a normal gate-out, instead of the rings flowing over him, date code did.

"Each day criminals like these roam free. Each day these cretins ruin what is to be fun! I will put an end to this, one of these days" Silver Knight muttered to himself.

"Sir, we've got a downed player," one of the soldiers had shouted.

"Wake him up then! I want you to ask questions as soon as you do about Seda" ordered Silver Knight.

"Sir yes sir!"


End file.
